Very little is known about his life before his arrival at Montreal in 1657. At Amiens, in Picardy, he married Anne-Françoise, the daughter of Médéric Bourduceau, a merchant who was apparently fairly successful in the West Indies trade, in which he was associated particularly with the Sulpician Gabriel Souart. M. de Sailly lived for some time in Martinique, where he represented his father-in-law.

After taking up residence at Montreal, he made several more or less profitable transactions with his wife’s parents, assisted in this by M. Souart and the Sulpicians. From 1 Feb. 1663 he was a corporal in the 14th militia squadron of Montreal. That same year a conflict arose between the royal government and the Sulpicians over the right to administer justice, and Governor Saffray de Mézy appointed M. de Sailly judge of the royal seneschal’s court. The Sulpicians protested, and created a seigneurial court with Charles-Joseph d’Ailleboust Des Muceaux as judge. The two courts functioned concurrently until Talon abolished the royal court in 1666. Despite his dismissal, M. de Sailly retained his title of royal judge until his death, which occurred unexpectedly when he was 43. His wife and children must have gone back to France, for we do not come across their name in Canada again after 1668.

We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage. Nous reconnaissons l’appui du gouvernement du Canada par l’entremise du ministère du Patrimoine canadien.